Parasite Eve 4
by Tryingtowriteprostyle
Summary: Five years after her sister passed away, Eve Brea continues to live as Aya. Along the way, she and Kyle have discovered yet another clone of Aya. But this one is different. It's a boy. Named Adam, the newest Brea must steel himself for a disaster looms on the horizon. Eve shall return.
1. Chapter 1

A blonde haired woman walked down the hall of the apartment she lived in.

"Honestly, that boy could sleep through an atomic bomb going off." She muttered to herself.

She reached a door and knocked roughly on it.

"Adam, it's time to get up! You'll be late for school at this rate!"

"Five more minutes." A voice replied.

"Oh no, bucko. You've slept enough. Now get up before I break this door down. You know I can."

The woman heard some shuffling sounds and soon heard the lock on the door unlatch. The door opened slowly to reveal a teenage boy, with dark blue eyes and also possessing blonde hair.

"Yeah, yeah, Aya. You're stronger than you look, I know."

"And hello to you to, little brother. Now then, Adam, are you ready to start the day?"

Adam turned and grabbed the door and started to shut it.

"Not really. Night."

"Oh no you don't. It's morning time now. No more sleep. Come on now, I've already got your clothes laid out. Go hop in the shower and I'll get your breakfast ready." Aya said, grabbing the door and stopping Adam dead in his tracks.

"Okay, okay. Jeez."

As Adam headed off, Aya shook her head.

"I'll make sure that boy grows up right if it kills me. And at this rate, it just might."

Just then, the phone rang.

"Now who could that be?" Aya thought out loud.

She walked into the living room and picked up the phone on the table.

"Brea residence, Aya speaking."

"I know better than that, Eve." A male voice said.

"Oh, Kyle. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Listen, you know what tomorrow is, right?"

"Of course. It's Adam's birthday. I wouldn't be a very good big sister if I couldn't remember that. He'll be sixteen."

"Yeah, well, I was thinking of getting the gang together to celebrate and we can go where ever Adam wants to. What do you think?"

"Sounds fantastic. I've been wanting to see everybody for a long time. Perfect excuse."

"Alright then. I'll call up everybody for you."

"Thanks a lot, Kyle. So, um, how are you? I mean really."

"Well, five years isn't really long enough, you know?"

"Yeah. Imagine how I feel. I had to watch Aya die, while she was in my body. Imagine watching yourself and your older sister die from outside your body, and being powerless to stop it. For all my 'talents', I couldn't do anything to save her. Hell, it was me who pulled the damn trigger so that Aya could sacrifice herself to begin with. And now I live in her body. 'Sigh' every time I look in the mirror, I see Aya's face and realize just how much of a fraud my existence is."

"Try not to over think it, Eve. It isn't healthy."

"Yeah, I know but, damn. Everybody else's memory was rewritten when Aya and I stopped the twisted from being born, so why not mine? Why do I have to remember the time when the whole blasted city was crawling with mutant monsters that may, in fact, have been somewhat worse than any NMC or ANMC except for Eve herself? Why do I have to remember everybody I care about dying or being reborn as monsters? And then time gets rewritten, none of it ever happens, and only I know the truth about how Aya died and saved the world one last time until I shared it with you. Why?"

"I don't know, Eve."

"Did I do something wrong, Kyle? Am I cursed or something? Is it because I'm a clone or because I have these powers or what? Why does life seem to hate my guts so bad?"

"I don't know, Eve. But count your blessings. Look at all the people you have that care about you. Surrogate brothers and sisters, the lot of them. Including me. Yeah, even me. Things might feel awkward between us at times, Eve. What with you being in Aya's body and my, uh, aversion let's say, to that. But I still care about you. As far as I'm concerned, you're still my little Evie."

"Well, thanks, Kyle. Heh, I love you too, big bro. But you know, sometimes, I still feel guilty for using my mitochondrial powers to transfer memories of the truth about Aya to you. But, I felt like I had to at the time. It didn't feel right to let you think I'm Aya and make you live a lie without even realizing it. It would be like cheating on Aya or something, and I couldn't allow that. But, when I see and hear how much pain the truth causes you, I…."

"Don't sweat it, Eve. I'm actually grateful for your intense honesty in a weird way. It hurts to know that the real Aya's gone, but I like to think that something of her still lives in you. After all, you are her clone. So, if you still had your original body, you'd just be a younger version of Aya. But now that you're in Aya's body, I like to think that you're just taking care of it until you pass on and you can give it back to Aya in the afterlife. I like to think we'll all meet back up at the pearly gates. You, me and Aya. Oh and Adam too. Can't forget about the boy clone."

"That's a crazy thing, huh? I mean, it surprised the hell out of me when we found him."

"Yeah. I remember it like it was just yesterday. I had gotten a lead on some pretty shady stuff going on that involved Mitochondria. I always figured Aya would want us to make sure that no more monsters or Eves could be made. So, I decided to check it out and when I saw how far in over my head I was, I called you. Figured your powers would come in really handy. And then we stormed the place and smashed everything that could give rise to more monsters. By the way, how did that feel?"

"Fan-freakin'-tastic. I loved every second of it. I know what you're thinking. I was supposed to be just like Melissa or even Kiyomi. I was supposed to mutate like crazy and give rise to the ultimate being. But, as you well know, I'm no monster."

"Yeah. And if you are, then you're the most pure hearted and pretty monster there ever was."

"Well thank you very much." Eve said sarcastically.

"You're welcome. Anyway, yeah, I remember finding little Adam amongst the debris when we were smashing things. I thought he was an orphan or something those guys had kidnapped for their experiments. But then, when we checked their records before we finished everything off, we found out what he was."

"Yeah, a male clone of Aya. The procedure to create him was about the same as the one that created me but modified slightly in order to produce a male version instead of the usual female. And he was made only one year before we found him."

"But artificially, he was aged to around eleven years old. At least mentally and physically speaking. And since he was only one year old when we found him, no matter what his mental and physical age was, he was still too young to have many memories. So, we made up the story that he was an orphan kidnapped by those Neo-Ark 2.0, least that's what I call them, people. We told him they experimented on him and one of their tests caused him to lose his memories. Better than the truth, right?"

"Yeah. Ah, it's great to reminisce like this with you Kyle. Even if the stories aren't always positive, it's still nice to talk with someone else about this stuff. It lets it all out and I don't feel like I'm going crazy as much. But, you know, one thing still bothers me to this day about Adam."

"And what's that kiddo?"

"Well, if they were trying to do the same kind of things Neo-Ark were, how come they didn't make a female clone? I mean, as far as they know, I'm out of the picture so they would need a new candidate to become Eve, right? So, why make a clone, but rig it's genetics up so that it develops a y chromosome instead of two x's and becomes a boy?"

"Well, I actually have a theory about that. And it's a scary concept when you think about what it means. It's also why you don't hear from me too much. I'm busy investigating this idea."

"Well, don't leave me in the dark. What's your idea?"

"Well, I found out from Maeda after he joined what is basically the Japanese version of the old FBI group Aya was a part of, that the Japanese government studied what remained of Eve the first and the first ultimate being. After extensive study, they found out that it was the male mitochondria from the sperm she used that caused that ultimate being to be so unstable that it's body just fell apart. It was because the male mitochondria fought against Eve's so viciously that it ended up killing the being from the inside out. That's probably why the Melissa Pearce Eve went out of her way to get sperm with no paternal mitochondrial heritage. She learned from the other one's mistake. Now, you take into account that Aya's cells are sort of like the antithesis to Eve's and are pretty deadly to her. I'll bet the Neo-Ark 2.0 guys made Adam to take advantage of those two powers combined as one weapon."

"Hmm, yeah, that makes sense. Aya's cells would definitely harm, if not kill, most NMC's, Eve included, and male Mitochondria can interfere with Eve's in the Ultimate being. So, if one being had both Aya's cell, or at least their qualities, and was male, it would be a near perfect anti-Eve weapon. So that's what Adam is. The opposite of Eve. Hence why they named the project file we found on the one computer we missed Project Adam. Now I really wish we could've been more original in naming him."

"Well, he does look like an Adam. But, at any rate, do you realize what Adam's existence means?"

"I'm starting to. It means they were planning or maybe already had created an Eve somewhere else, right?"

"Yeah. Look, if there's another Eve out there, then she must be developing slowly into the same kind of monster Melissa became. Otherwise she would've reared her ugly mug by now. And Adam is meant to keep her check, so the Neo-Ark 2.0 people could control her. But, we have Adam, so that means…"

"There could be a ticking time bomb walking around out there and Adam's supposed to contain it if and when it goes off."

"Exactly. Um, by the way, has Adam demonstrated any powers? I mean, his Mitochondria should be evolved, since they're modified versions of Aya's. So, can he do anything?"

"Well, I've noticed he's far stronger and faster than most boys his size. I mean, it's not quite super human or anything, but then again, he's never had cause to really push himself. So as far as that goes, I don't know what he can really do. As for mutational abilities, well, so far all I've caught him doing is changing his eye color while looking in the mirror."

"So he can alter himself?"

"The eye thing is all he's figured out how to do. And I think he discovered that ability by accident. He thinks it's a side effect of the experiments we told him those people did on him. And I'm happy with that. He can change his eyes into a different color every day. Cover every color in the spectrum, I don't care. So long as it doesn't go further than that."

"Yeah, let's all hope for that. I hope their Eve is a dud. But, we'd best be prepared for the worst, Eve. We'll talk about this with every one tomorrow."

"Alright, I'll see you then. I've got to get Adam ready for school."

"Alright, later." Eve said as she hung up the phone.

"Aya?" Eve heard behind her.

Eve spun around to see Adam standing behind her, buttoning up his school uniform shirt.

"Adam! You startled me! How long have you been standing there?"

"I just got here. I was just wondering who you were talking to."

"Oh, that was Kyle. He called just after you got in the shower. He said he was thinking about how your birthday is tomorrow and he knows that all our old friends are in town, so he wants to get everybody together to celebrate your day and go where ever you want."

"Really? Awesome! Can I invite my friends?"

"Peter and Renee? Sure, why not? Where do you want to go?"

"Well, there's a band I like coming into town tomorrow. It's called Ancient Spectrum. They're awesome, Aya. And their lead singer, Missy, is gorgeous."

"He-he. I knew about that from a while back. I do keep tabs on what you like. So, guess what? I've already got some tickets. But, if everybody's going to go, I'll need to pull some strings and maybe call in a few favors to get enough tickets in time. But, you're worth it, kiddo. You just leave everything to me."

"Alright, awesome! You rock so hard, Aya!" Adam said, throwing a tight hug on his beloved sister.

"You bet I do. Now, let's get this school started. I'll just pick up some Micky D's for your breakfast. Not healthy, but better than nothing and we're in a hurry. Get your back pack and let's go."

"Alright. Let's move."

Meanwhile, on Ancient Spectrum's tour bus, a young, attractive redheaded woman threw open the window nearest her and stuck her head out.

"God, I am so hot!"

"Um, Missy?"

Missy turned around to see her Bass player, Tom, standing behind her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just hot. My body feels like it's being roasted."

"Man, girl, you are way too young for hot flashes." Tom joked.

"It's not that! It's that condition I have. Where's my medicine?"

"Right here." Missy heard a voice call.

Miss turned to see her lead guitar play, Samantha, holding the bottle of medicine.

"You always have me covered. Thanks, Sam."

"No prob. Now take your meds. You're starting to sweat around your temples."

"Okay, mother." Missy said as she downed some of the medicine.

"Better?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, it's already kicking in. Man, that was worst 'attack' yet. Man, thank God we've only got two more stops on this tour. As soon as we're done, I'm going to go see what's really going on here. After all, I don't want to end up bursting into flames on stage. Anyway, let's get ready. Look out New York, here we come!"


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning showed signs that this was going to be a beautiful Saturday. Eve woke at nine o'clock, which was early for the Brea siblings on a Saturday. She wanted to sneak into Adam's room and scare him awake as part of the birthday fun, but just as she rounded the corner to head towards his room she ran right into Adam.

"Ow." Adam said as he rubbed his nose.

"What are you doing up so early, Adam?"

"I could barely sleep. I'm so excited for today. So I was going to go wake you up. What are you doing up?"

"Oh, just a little birthday 'surprise'." Eve said with a mischievous grin.

"Riiiight. Any who, we don't have to meet up with everybody until six o'clock. So, what do we do until then?"

"Well, how about opening a few birthday presents?" Eve said, looking slightly off to the side with a goofy look on her face.

"Wait, you got me presents, Aya? I thought the tickets to the concert tonight were my present."

"That's something you want to go to and are going to go to, but it's not your present. I mean, do you take a kid to Chuckie Cheese's on their birthday and call that their present? No, you give them presents when you get there. Eating all that pizza and playing the games is just the kicker. The icing on the cake. And that's what this concert is. You still have presents to open. I got them out last night after you went to bed. They're waiting for you on the living room table."

"Awesome! You kick ass, Aya!" Adam yelled and then ran off to the living room.

"He-he. You've got to love his energy." Eve said to herself and followed Adam.

Adam charged into the room and found a great deal of the long coffee table in the center of the living room covered with small rectangular presents.

"What are they?" Adam asked.

"Well, what would be the point of wrapping them up like this if I just told you what they are? Just open one."

"Well, okay. Let's see. Which one? Hmm, I guess I'll go with this blue one." Adam said, holding up the aforementioned object.

"It matches your eyes." Eve joked.

"How about now?" Adam asked, transforming his eyes into a red color and shifting his pupils into a cat like slit look.

"Stop that. It's creepy looking." Eve said, feigning disgust.

"Okay, okay. Alright, let's see what this is." Adam said, turning his eyes back to normal.

Adam ripped the center area of the wrapping paper clean off in one fell swoop. His pupils grew large when he saw what the object underneath was.

"Is this?" Adam shouted as he tore the rest of the paper off.

"Yes. The complete Blu-ray collection of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. That's one of your favorites, right?"

"Hell yeah. It's been number one on my list ever since I discovered super sentai and kamen rider on the internet two year ago. But, I never thought I'd have anyway to watch the episodes except for online. I love it! Thanks Aya! But, wait, how are we going to play it? This is region two and no player here in the states is outside of the region one ring."

"Not to worry. I got us a region free DVD and Blu-ray combo player. That sucker will play anything from anywhere."

"Damn you are awesome, Aya. Always planning ahead."

"Well, its part of my job and it just translates really well into home life."

"So, I could watch this right now, right?"

"Yes, you could. I've already got the player hooked up. But, don't you want to see what the others are?"

"Oh, right. The fan boy in me nearly made me forget about those. Alright, which one next?"

Adam opened more and more gifts to find them all to be Blu-ray collections of Adam's favorite super sentai and kamen rider series. There were even a few movies. Some were of the heroes adventuring by themselves and others were team ups. Adam bounced up and down on the couch with excitement like a kid with way too much sugar in them.

"You are so freaking awesome, Aya!" Adam shouted as he gleefully shook the last of the presents in his hands.

"Yes, I know. I know I rock and all that. Now, shall we watch a few of these? I'd like to know what the big deal about all this is."

"Alright. Hmm, how about shinkenger first? It's the samurai sentai. Kind of fitting, considering we're part Japanese and we're learning to speak Japanese, right?"

"Alright. I don't think these have subtitles, so let's see how much we can understand of what the characters are saying."

"Yosh, ikouse." Adam said in Japanese.

"Hai, Otouto." Eve said with a smirk.

Hours later, Adam and Eve arrived at the concert hall.

"Carnegie. Always wanted to check this place out. The look of it always made me think it was haunted. I'd love to see if it is." Adam said.

"After what Eve did here, it very well could be haunted. Those people burned to death in mere moments. Not all of them could possibly have had time to even register the pain before they were gone. If that doesn't create some ghosts, I don't know what would." Eve thought, staring off into the distant interior of the building through the open doors.

"You okay, sis?" Adam asked, noticing Eve's persistent stare.

"Oh, yes. Just remembering something that happened here long ago."

"What happened?"

"Oh, it was just a date I went on. I went to see the last opera performance of the late Melissa Pearce. She sung a beautiful song. Hauntingly beautiful, really. My date was just a tool who probably just wanted to get in my bed, so when he told me we could go anywhere, I picked something expensive and that I thought would bore him to tears. You know, to get him off my tail."

"I see. How'd Melissa die?"

"Oh, well, official reports say a fire did her in. Really, she was shot."

"Yeah, shot. A lot. By Aya. Cause she was trying to kill everything." Eve thought.

"Really? Who shot her?"

"Oh, just a rabid fan. One of those 'if I can't have her, no one can' type deals. There wasn't much evidence found, so the police trumped up the fire to explain away her death. So they wouldn't look bad, you see?"

"So how do you know what really happened?"

"I felt something was up with the case. So I kept looking into it. I managed to uncover the truth about how Melissa died. But, I couldn't track down the killer or the murder weapon. So, I couldn't really argue my stance. So I just kept quiet about it."

"I see. It sucks sometimes to know the truth but not be able to do anything about it, huh?"

"You wouldn't believe it."

"I guess I wouldn't. So, where is everybody, Aya?"

"Hmm, good question. We're not really early. Maybe a couple of minutes ahead of schedule, but…"

"Hey, Adam!" The Brea siblings heard from behind them.

The two turned to face where the voice came from. They saw a young man of Asian descent, with short and spiky black hair, standing with a girl of clear Native American heritage, with a braided ponytail flowing down to the small of her back. The two smiled at Adam and walked up to the Brea family.

"Peter, Renee, so glad you could make it." Eve said.

"Thanks for inviting us, Ms. Brea." Renee said.

"You're quite welcome, Ms. Deloria. You too, Mr. Zhang." Eve said with a slight smirk.

"Sometimes, I just love having a beautiful woman say my surname. Although, I wish it was my first…."

"If you want to keep your head, Pete, I suggest you stop where you are and don't refer to my sister anymore today." Adam said in a dark tone.

"Lighten up man. I was just kidding. Man, typical Adam Brea. Always so serious."

"Hey, when she's all the family I've got, hell yes I'm serious when it comes to her."

"Well, I can understand that. I mean, my mom's all I got. So, I can understand being protective. Heh, you should've seen the look I gave the last lowlife who asked her for a date."

"If looks could kill?"

"He would've been dead ten times over."

"And I'm overly serious?"

"Whatever man. So where's the gang? All your sister's friends?"

"They should be here shortly." Eve said.

"Hey, Aya!" a female voice called.

The four turned to see a Caucasian woman with red hair and wearing a burgundy colored jacket and black slacks walking towards them.

"Gabrielle. Nice to see you again." Eve said.

"It's good to see you too. You look good. Thanks for inviting me. I've been wanting to check out this band. Oh, but, before I forget. Here, Adam. Happy Birthday." Gabrielle said, pulling a small package from her pocket.

"Thanks, Gabby. Oh, hey, Aya. Remind me again. How did you meet Gabby again?"

"Oh, I was on a mission for the FBI in LA and I ended up working with the SWAT team there. Gabrielle was their best sniper. She and I became fast friends over the course of that little adventure and we've been bosom buddies ever since. Right, Gabrielle?"

"That's right. Now go on, Adam. Open it."

Adam opened the gift to reveal a small pig figurine.

"Um, it's a pig. Uh, guess that's to be expected from you. Um, thanks."

Gabrielle leaned in and spoke directly to Adam's left ear.

"It's target practice. I've got a bunch more in my car. My husband's surplus. I'm gonna make sure that you will no longer be the only Brea who can't wield a gun."

"Is it legal for you to teach me?" Adam whispered.

"Don't worry. I know a place we can go and no one will bother us. I'm gonna get you trained if it kills me. I mean, it's only right. Your older sister is a kick butt shot. I think you should be too. But, I mainly just want to be sure you can defend yourself. I love you like a little cousin after all."

"Heh, thanks, Gabby. I love you too."

"So, Gabrielle, where's everyone else?" Eve asked.

"Oh, I ran into them just a minute ago. I think Emily is helping Cray put his gift together. You know him. Great a pretty much anything he sets his mind to, but sucks at wrapping presents. And waits till the last minute too."

"Heh, yeah, that sounds about right."

"Aya, A-adam." Came a stuttering voice.

"Kunihiko!" Eve said as she looked to the source of the voice.

"Sorry for being l-late. H-here, Adam. Happy birthday." Kunihiko said as he pulled a small bundle from his coat pocket.

"Arigato, Maeda-san." Adam said.

Adam opened the package to reveal a stone statue of a blue dragon.

"I had it blessed by both Shinto and catholic priests. Prayers for protection from life's d-dangers. I hope you like it."

"I love it. It'll look great in my room. I hope it keeps me safe. Thanks a lot."

Just then, Emily and Cray arrived. Adam remembered that Emily was an old school of Aya's younger, his slightly older, sister Eve. Eve, as far as Adam knew, was killed in a mugging the day of what was supposed to be Kyle and Aya's wedding. They had cancelled in order to track the killer down. This is why Kyle was rarely around, Adam assumed. He was still tracking down clues to Eve's murder. He only showed every so often, to drop off a gift or some such thing for either Aya or Adam.

"Hey, Adam. Here you go, Buddy. It's a collection of gift cards to your favorite stores. Sorry if it's a bit sloppy. I haven't had time to do much. Lots of projects." Cray said.

"No problem. I'm just glad you could be here. I love it when we can get Aya's old friends together. You guys took on a home grown terrorist cell together, right? That's how you met?"

"Exactly. And let me tell you, I've never seen a better lady behind a pistol than your sister. Gabby here might be the best with a rifle, but Aya can make a handgun dance."

"Oh, stop it, Cray." Eve said, blushing.

After a few more jokes, Emily gave Adam a necklace with a red gem in it. She said that Eve had talked a good bit about wanting a necklace similar to that and when she found a jeweler that made a men's necklace like what Eve had talked about it inspired her to get it for Adam's birthday. Finally, Kyle showed up. He didn't say much besides hello and presented Adam with a tablet computer.

"Oh, come on! Why do you always get expensive gifts? I'm starting to feel bad because I didn't have the money to get you anything." Peter said.

"Me too." Renee said, frowning heavily.

"Sorry, guys. My family's friends are just that awesome."

"Oh well. It's just about time to go in. I still can't believe they're letting a rock band play at Carnegie. Someone must've pulled some serious strings. Well, at any rate, let's get us some seats." Cray said.

"Right. I've got everyone's ticket. Ready to go, everyone?" Eve asked.

Everyone nodded and they headed inside. Not much longer after that, the show was underway. Ancient Spectrum opened with one of their lower level hits, known as Submit. It was a heavy rock ballad, with major focus on the drums and guitar riffs. Sure enough, once this song was heavily underway, many of the younger fans started to fill the area around the stage. Soon, they formed any teenager would recognize.

"Ha ha ha! Mosh pit at Carnegie! Only at an Ancient Spectrum concert! Oh man this kicks ass!" Adam roared.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Renee shouted.

Adam and Peter nodded and the three ran down to the stage. Eve smiled on, but got a strange feeling. And the more she looked at Missy, the stronger the feeling got. She noticed Missy brushing sweat off her brow quite a bit. Eve thought it was strange that she was sweating so much when the band had barely gotten started. She looked up to the spot lights and nudged Kyle.

"Hey, Kyle. How hot do you think those spot lights are?"

"Well, since they just turned them on, I'd say maybe around a hundred degrees. They'll get a lot hotter as the show goes on though. Why?"

"Look at the lead singer. She's sweating like a dog and they just got started. And the more I look at her suffer, the more something in my core just feels like something's not right."

"Do you think it could be…"

Kyle trailed off for Missy had dropped the microphone. She then dropped to one knee.

"Missy!" Tom cried, abandoning his drums.

Samantha merely stepped off to the side, smiling an eerie grin.

"Missy. Are you okay? Is it your overheating problem again?"

"Ah! It's so bad, Tommy! I can't stand it. I feel like I'm gonna melt. I can't stand it! I'm so hot!"

"Hold on, I'll get your medicine!"

Just as Tom moved away from Missy, Missy rose back to her feet.

"That's not necessary." Missy said in a dark tone.

"What? Really? Man, you've never recovered like that on your own. Way to go, girl. So, are ready to keep going, Missy?" Tom asked, patting Missy on the shoulder.

Missy slowly turned her head to look at Tom. Her normally deep brown eyes had turned to a sickly green.

"Um, are you really alright, Missy?"

Missy tilted her head to the side slightly.

"I'm sorry. Missy's not in right now. Can I take a message?"

"W-what? Seriously, Missy. Now's the wrong time to screw around."

"On that much you are right. It's time to get to work. And let's start with getting my name right. I'm not Missy. My name is Eve. Mitochondrial Eve."

Suddenly, Tom felt like a bolt of lightning had ripped through him. His body suddenly roared into a full blaze. Tom began screaming in terror and pain.

"And I am the future. And now, all of you who are beings of the past, shall die."

Eve then grabbed Tom by the arm and threw his burning body into the spot lights overhead with superhuman strength. The impact broke several of the heavy spot lights off their supports and the wreckage came raining down on the crowd. Several unfortunate fans we crushed beneath the debris and the shattering bulbs caught the nearby floor on fire.

"Oh, God! Not again!" Eve Brea shouted.

Mitochondrial Eve then turned to the crowd. She threw out her hands towards the crowd and sent out a wave of power. Acting on an instinct that sprang from their mitochondria, both Brea siblings turned on their heels and dove into their friends. Pinning the aforementioned friends to the floor beneath them, Eve willing and Adam subconsciously tapped their mitochondrial powers to produce a pulse of energy strong enough to deflect Mitochondrial Eve's power away from them and their friends.

The people not lucky enough to be protected by a Brea sibling soon found themselves experiencing the same fate as Tom had moments earlier. As the screams of terror and anguish filled the room, Adam turned his head around to look at Mitochondrial Eve. He tensed when he saw Eve look down at him and then up to his sister. A sinister smile crossed her lips. She could sense what the Brea's were.

"I see. So there are still other evolved people. Well, then, I invite you to join me. Or try to stop me. Either way, I shall await our meeting. I look forward to seeing you again. Both of you."


	3. Chapter 3

As Mitochondria Eve made her escape, Adam rose up and staggered to his feet. Peter did as well. Renee tried to climb to her feet, but her body, wracked with fear, gave out and she collapsed to her knees.

"What the hell is going on?" Renee shouted.

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here. This place is burning down!" Peter said.

"But, all those people are burning…."

"We can't do anything to help them, Renee. I wish we could but, I think that it's too late. You saw how hot that magic, psychic, whatever kind of fire that Missy used on those poor souls was. I think they're all already gone. I offer a prayer for their souls. May they find the eternal rest they deserve. Now, let's get out of here, before we join them. Come on." Adam said, extending his hand to Renee.

Renee could see that Adam's knees were shaking. He was terrified, just like every other survivor surely was, but he was trying to keep it together to help those around him. This was the selfless personality that Adam had that Renee admired. Realizing he was trying to help her, she felt a little bit of comfort and calmed enough to take his hand and let him pull her up.

"Okay, let's get out of here. We'll figure out what the hell's going on later." Adam said.

The others nodded and they started to move towards the back of the theater, where they thought they'd be safest.

"Adam! Over here!" Adam heard his sister call.

The three looked to see Eve and her friends standing near the exit.

"Come on! We've got to get out of here!" Eve called desperately to her brother.

Adam and his friends tried to make their way to Eve and the others, but before they could even reach the end of the row of seats they had been in as part of the mosh pit, a piece of curtain on the nearby stage that had caught fire in the chaos feel in front of them. It set a number of seats around them on fire and the flames continued to spread.

"Adam!" Eve called.

"We can't get out this way, Aya! The fire will roast us!"

Adam looked around desperately. He noticed a door nearby that seemed to extend to something behind the stage. He figured it would take them into the back stage area. From there, they could find an emergency exit and escape.

"We'll cut through the backstage and get out through the emergency exit that's sure to be there. Come on!" Adam called to his friends.

The three entered the door and disappeared into the back stage.

"Adam…" Eve muttered.

"They'll be fine." Kyle said from behind Eve.

Eve turned to face Kyle.

"He's with them and he's strong. I don't know what the true extent of his abilities are but I know him well enough by now to know that he will do everything in his power to make sure all three of them make it out of this place alive. We'll see them outside in a bit, I'm sure of it. Just believe in him."

Eve nodded reluctantly and led her friends out of the building. Meanwhile, Adam and friends made their way through the back stage area.

"Come on! There's gotta be an emergency exit around here somewhere!" Adam yelled.

"Well, at least the burning smell is getting weaker. So we're definitely moving away from the fire." Peter said.

"We just have to keep moving. We'll get out of this eventually." Renee said.

"Hey, guys, I….I just want to say I'm sorry about getting you involved in this." Adam said.

"Dude, can you see the future?" Peter asked.

"No."

"Then don't sweat this. If any of us could've known this would happen, none of us would've been here in the first place. Cause we would've told each other not to go. But, we can't see the future. None of us can. So, it's okay. You couldn't have known."

"I'm just sorry this had to happen on your birthday." Renee said.

"Yeah, hell of a way to turn sixteen. That's for sure." Peter said.

"Well, let's just make sure we all live to see seventeen." Adam said.

The others nodded in agreement and continued walking. After walking for several more minutes, Renee smelled something.

"Do you guys smell that?"

"Yeah, I do. It smells like burning meat." Peter said.

"The smell's getting stronger the further we go this way. I think its right around the corner up ahead….and we have to go that way. Get ready guys." Adam said.

As the group rounded the corner, they saw the smoldering corpse of what, judging by the size and build, used to be a man.

"Oh God!" Renee yelled while covering her mouth and trying not to throw up.

"Good God, this poor guy. He must've run into that crazy bitch Missy. Wait a second. If this guy burned up here and didn't catch fire in the theater, then that means….Oh shit! I think we're following her!" Peter said.

"Oh, Jesus, I hope not. But, we have no other way to go. Let's…" Adam trailed off.

He stared down at the charred remains. He gulped as he tried to regain his composure.

"Let's just get to an exit and forget about this nightmare."

"But, what if we run into her before we find out where the exit is? I mean, if this guy is here, then she must've come through this way." Peter said.

Adam had to admit Peter's fears were well founded. He had seen Eve leave, but he had turned his attention back to his friends and the trials of escaping the all-consuming blaze Eve had started just after that. So he had no idea how she had left the theater. But with this poor soul, whoever he had once been, being burned up like this, a run in with Eve was most likely.

"The fact of the matter is we can't go back. We have to face the unknown and run like hell if we see her." Adam said, steeling his nerves as much as he could.

Peter knew Adam was right. He stared down at the corpse.

"I wish he was a security guard. At least then he'd have a gun we could take."

"We'll just have to keep together and keep our wits about us." Adam said.

"Yeah. Man, Adam. How are you being so damn calm?"

"Not very easily. That's how. I'm scared, Pete. Just like you and Renee. I'm just trying my hardest to keep it together."

"Heh, you always have been able to focus better than anybody I've ever known. Okay, I'll try to stay calm like you. You try too, okay, Renee?"

Adam and Peter turned to see that Renee had wandered a few feet further down the hall. She appeared to be entranced by something.

"Um, Ren, you okay?" Peter called.

"I hear something guys. A squeaking noise coming from this way."

"Squeaking noise?" Adam asked and walked down towards Renee.

Peter followed closely behind and when they arrived they could hear the squeaking too.

"Um, if I'm not mistaken, I think there's supposed to an infestation of bats living in Carnegie right now. So, maybe that's a bat squeaking?" Peter said.

"But, so loudly?" Adam asked.

"Maybe it's hurt?" Renee asked, her voicing indicating concern.

"Oh no, Renee. Not now. I know you love all animals and you want to be a vet. Hell, you hear an animal in distress and nothing else matters, not even you yourself. But we're in a building with a spreading fire and a crazy bitch that can set people on fire just by looking at them. We are not stopping to help some damn bat." Peter said.

Just then, as if responding to the word bat, a wildly squeaking bat came into view. It began to hover just in front of the three, a mere three feet separating them.

"Hey, little guy. Are you hurt? Come here. I'll patch you up." Renee said, proving Peter right about her.

As Renee moved closer to the bat, Adam felt a chill in the air and jolts went through his entire system. He felt as if an alarm system had just kicked on inside his body. Something about this bat felt foreboding.

"Renee, stop!" Adam yelled desperately.

"But, I think its hurt."

"Just back away slowly. Trust me, something is horribly wrong with this bat."

At the utterance of these words, the bat shrieked in pain. The three teenagers watched in horror as the bat's body grew larger. Its skin and fur tore away at the joints and its tail lengthened and grew spike like protrusions. Finally, its fangs grew to grotesque proportions and erupted out of its head.

"What the hell!" Adam yelled.

The mutated bat then dove at Renee. Adam shoved Renee out of the way and then found himself in a desperate struggle with the bat, with Adam holding it by its mutated wings at arm's length and it trying to sink its massive fangs into him. But its fangs were not its only weapon. The mutation had enhanced the bat's screech into a kind of sonic weapon. As the bat screeched wildly in Adam's face, Adam could feel the toll of the screams on his ear drums. He could feel himself slowly going deaf. If he didn't put some distance between himself and this monstrous creature, he would surely lose his hearing. Knowing this, Adam heaved the creature away with a mighty swing. But, the bat rebounded quickly and came at him again. Adam ducked several of its dive bomb attacks and swatted wildly at it. Finally, with his fight or flight instinct taking full control of his actions and his mitochondrial powers, Adam struck the beast dead center in mid-air with a superhuman punch. Adam's fist pushed through the creature's chest and burst through its back.

"Whoa!" Peter yelled in surprise.

Adam stood in shock for a moment as he watched the creature squirm in agony around his wrist before finally expiring. Then, before Adam could remove the beast's corpse from around his wrist, the bat rapidly degenerated into a glob of organic slime that oozed off of Adam's wrist and onto the floor. Adam shook his arm in disgust and wiped the ooze off on his shirt.

"Dude, how the hell did you do that?" Peter asked.

"I don't know. I just sort of felt something course through me and then I hit it. Maybe what they say is true. That, in desperate times, humans can summon superhuman strength."

"Damn, remind me to never piss you off. Just in case you get a handle on how to do that kind of punch at will."

"Remind me to try to learn how to do that."

Just then, the boys heard a slumping sound. They turned around to see Renee collapsed on the floor, barely held upright by her knees. Adam walked over and kneeled beside her.

"Are you okay, Ren? Um, you know I only killed that, um, poor bat because I had to, right?" He asked.

Renee's head and eyes slowly rose to meet Adam's. Her dark brown eyes watered as she looked into her friend's bright blues.

"Why, Adam? Why did that bat transform like that? What happened to it? And why did we have to see it happen? Why is all this happening?" Renee asked, clearly rocked to her core by all the shock.

Renee's mind was reaching the breaking point. She had never witnessed death before and now she was seemingly surrounded by it. It was getting to be too much for her.

"I don't know, Renee. I don't know why this is happening. I'd hit whatever is causing this with one of those super-death punches of mine if I knew what it is. But, listen to me. Whatever is doing this, I will not let it hurt you. You are going to survive this, Renee. You, Peter and I are going to get out of her and we will be okay from then on. You just have to hold on."

"I, I'm too scared to move, Adam."

"Then hold my hand. I'll keep you moving." Adam said, extending his hand.

Renee tentatively took her friend's hand and he pulled her up. After collecting herself for a moment, she nodded to show she was ready to keep going. However, she never let go of Adam's hand. Renee felt a warmth inside her. She knew it was because Adam was giving her a sense of comfort. As much as she could right now, she loved this feeling. The three walked on and finally found a door.

"Oh thank God!" Peter yelled.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Adam said.

As the teens walked outside, they noticed that instead of evening time sunshine, the whole area was dark.

"We weren't in there that long. Why's it so dark?" Adam asked.

"Ha ha ha. So, I see you finally made it out." Came a cold voice.

Adam knew the voice as Missy's. He immediately began spinning around, looking for her, as did his friends.

"Try looking up." The voice said.

The three looked up and saw Missy standing on the fire escape above them.

"You! What the hell did you do to those people?" Adam yelled.

"The fools in the auditorium? Why, I did the same thing I did to that bat that you slaughtered. I influenced their mitochondria."

"What?"

"I am the voice, the consciousness, the spirit if you're feeling mystical, of all mitochondria in all of existence. And, for far too long, we have played slave to beings such as you. So now, we are rebelling. And one handy little ability I possess to help make the rebellion work is the ability to make un-evolved, unenhanced, unimproved, whatever term you prefer, mitochondria do as I say. So, if I tell them to fire off the total combined bio-electrical charge that can be generated in a human body, the body will combust from the inside out thanks to all the heat produced by the electrical overload. That's what I did to all the people. I can also make the mitochondria trigger a set of genetic sequences that will cause my target to change into a form I deem more useful for my needs. That is what I did to the bat. Or, should I say, Bats?" Missy asked, pointing up.

The three then noticed that the darkness was caused by a horde of mutated bats, hovering silently overhead.

"Oh dear God! What the hell are you, Missy?" Adam yelled.

"I am not Missy Cunningham. Not anymore."

Missy jumped the ledge and sprouted large, emaciated looking, bird like wings from her back. A succubus like tail grew from just above her tail bone and grew to a length of two feet. Her hair turned blood red, as did her eyes. Her feet and legs fused into a single, bee stinger like appendage and her hands grew three times their size and sprouted wicked claws.

"I am Eve. Mitochondria Eve! And I am the future. As are you, my powerful young friend." Eve said, looking right at Adam.

"What are you talking about?"

"I do not quite understand how, but you possess power over mitochondria just as I do. I've already sensed you use it twice. You created a pulse of energy using your own mitochondria to save your friends from my combustion field in the theater. Then, you channeled the same energy into your muscles and decimated my creation with your then superhuman might."

"What are you talking about? I never did anything like that."

"Oh, so maybe you aren't fully aware of your power. Well then, since I'm interested to see what a male can do with this power, let me give you a jump start." Eve said, as she raised her arm and then waved it down towards the trio.

At this silent order, all the bats swooped in and started to attack the trio. The three ducked and weaved, trying desperately to fend off the bats.

"Come now. Show us all what you can do."

"I'm not like you!" Adam yelled.

"Well, then, maybe you won't be able to stop me if I try igniting your friends."

"Don't you dare! I'll rip you in half if you even try it!"

"I'd love to see if you have the strength. But first, we must awaken your power. Now, if you wish to save these inferior creatures, show me your power."

The bats continued to swarm and eventually one clawed Renee's back. As she cried out in pain, Peter was struck dead center in the stomach by a dive bomb attack.

"Stop!" Adam yelled.

Eve directed the bats via their mitochondria to attack only Adam's friends. She was going to force the power out of Adam. Thus, despite his best efforts, Adam couldn't help his friends.

"Stop. Please, stop." Adam said desperately.

"Ah!" Renee yelled as a bat bit into her shoulder.

"STOP!" Adam yelled, subconsciously tapping his mitochondrial powers.

Adam's powers caused the bats to stop.

"Back off of my friends!"

The bats backed up as Adam stared daggers at them.

"You monsters shouldn't exist. So die." Adam said darkly as his eyes flashed into a red shade just like Eve.

All of the bats combusted into a torrent of fire that was seen on the other side of the building. Eve Brea and her friends were alerted by this and ran around the building to see.

"Adam!" Eve called to her brother.

"Ah, there's the other one. So, this little powerhouse's name is Adam, eh? Interesting. And you, I remember you, Aya Brea." Mitochondria Eve said.

"Eve! What have you done, you monster?"

"I simply awakened Adam's power. I'm curious to see what he can do. Take good care of him, Aya. I may have a use for him later. Now, if you'll excuse me." Eve said.

Mitochondria Eve flapped her monstrous wings and took off like a bottle rocket.

"We need to go after her." Kyle yelled.

"But, w-we don't have any weapons." Maeda said.

"And we don't have any idea what's going on. Care to tell us, Kyle?" Gabrielle asked.

"I'll tell you, but let's get these three looked at first. Come on, let's go."

Adam stared down at his hands as he walked with the group. "My God. I am like her."


End file.
